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FOR  THE  PRESBYTERIES  OF 


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tami^w  itti  Mn  M^M 


MINISTERIAL   DEPOSITION 


ECCLESIASTICAL   NON-INTERCOURSE. 


P.Y    Ri:v.    IIEXRV     WARD   BEECIIKR. 


OAKLATsl): 

•OAKLAND    DAILY    NEWS    HOOK    AND   JOft    PRINTING    OFFICi:. 

ls<i9. 


J^     S  E  E  M  o  jsr 

FOR  THE  PRESBYTERIES  OP 
I 


(M(f       ,  y 


ON. 


MINISTERIAL   DEPOSITION 


ECCLESIASTICAL  NON-INTERCOURSE. 


By  Kev.   HENKY    WARD  BEECHER. 


OAKLAND: 

OAKLAND  DAILY  NEWS   BOOK   AND  JOB  PRINTING   OFFICE. 

1869. 


:B39  s 


MODERN   EXCOMMUNICATION, 


A^   serm:on 


Cyv^  PREACHED    BY 

no 


-i 


HENEY    WARD    BEECHER, 


5      PLYMOUTH  CHURCH,  BROOKLYN,  K.  Y 

Sunday  DEveniiig,  Mlay  31,  1868. 


g  [The  first  portion  of  this  discourse  refers  to  the  case  of  the  man  who  received 

— ;  his  sight  at  the  hands  of  the  Saviour,  and  who,  for  persisting  in  saying  that  Christ 
3E  opened  his  eyes  on  the  Sabbath  day,  was  cast  out  of  the  Synagogue  by  the  Phari- 
^  sees.— John  ix,  35-38.] 

It  may  seem  needless  to  preacli  on  the  subject  of  excommuni- 
cating men  from  the  church  ;  but  the  ecclesiastical  power  of  the 
church  over  men's  convenience,  over  their  comfort,  over  their 
profit,  over  their  good  name,  and  over  their  influence  in  society, 
although  it  is  very  much  abated,  is  still  not  insignificant ;  and 
now  and  then  there  are  paroxysms  of  this  ecclesiastical  spirit 
breaking  out,  even  in  our  day,  and  manifesting  itself  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  make  it  worth  our  while  to  look  a  little  at  the 
grounds  of  and  reasons  for  these  things. 

One  minister  is  unfellowshipped  because  he  insists  upon  his 
right  to  commune  at  the  Lord's  table  with  other  acknowledged 
Christians,  though  they  have  not  been  baptized  by  immersion. 
He  has  violated  no  canon  of  morality.  He  has  not  fallen  from 
faith  in  any  important  or  fundamental  doctrine.     He  has  simply 

29559", 


Tiolated   a   custom,  an    ordinance,  a  usage  of  an   ecclesiastical 
cliiircli. 

Another  niinititer  is  disciplined  for  preaching  Christ  without 
asking  leave  of  a  man  who  holds  ecclesiastical  title  to  certain  ter- 
ritory. It  is  not  alleged  that  he  has  preaclied  a  false  doctrine, 
or  that  he  is  not  worthy  to  preach  at  all.  lie  has  simply  violated 
a  man-made  custom  in  a  Christian  church  or  sect.* 

Another  man — George  IF.  Stuart,  known  and  beloved  in  two 
hemispheres,  wherever  zeal,  liberality  and  Christian  activity  are 
prized — has  been  excommunicated;  and,  In  (iod's  name,  for 
what  ? 

For  singing  hymns  instead  of  singing  psalms  !  Nothing  else, 
and  nothing  more  !  For  there  is  one  sect  of  Presbyterians  in 
this  country  who  have  agreed  among  themselves  that  if  any  man 
sings  anything  but  the  Psalms  of  David  he  shall  be  cast  out ! 
But  do  they  sing  the  Psalms  of  David  themselves  ?  If  they  sang 
Hebrew  they  could  be  called  consistent,  but  not  otherwise. 
However,  this  is  a  regulation  of  that  church,  and  George  H. 
Stuart  sang  Watts'  Hymns,  and  they  excommunicated  him,  at 
Pittsburg,  this  last  week.  It  is  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Cliurch.  I  should  like  t«)  know  what  its  condition  was  before  it 
was  reformed  I 

Such  and  such  like  things  are  occurring  not  unfrequently  ;  and, 
since  such  things  are  likely  to  occur,  it  is  time  that  we  should 
apply  that  corrective  which  belongs  to  us  in  this  land — namely, 
tlie  enlightened  ]iublic  sentiment  of  the  intelligent  Christian  men 
of  all  churches.  And,  in  behalf  of  men  exconnnunicated  from 
any  sect  whatever — not  for  immorality,  nor  for  the  violation  of 
fundamental  faith,  but  merelv  for  violatino-  human  regulations 
or  customs — in  behalf  of  them  all,  I  appeal  from  the  judicatory 
to  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  the  Christian  community,  with- 
out regard  to  sect. 

It  is  said  that  it  is  indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of  relig- 
ious organizati«»ns,  that  men  who  join  themselves  to  any  sect,  or 
to  any  church,  and  consent  to  abide  ])y  its  rules  and  regulations, 
take  the  reuult  of  t.uch  violation.  It  is  declared  that  if  intelli- 
gent men  j..in  a  sect  or  a  church,  thcv  ouo;ht  to  do  it  with  their 


eyes  open ;  and  that  if,  wlien  their  eyes  are  really  opened,  they 
find  themselves  to  have  entered  it  upon  mistaken  ground,  and 
see  that  they  can  no  longer  conform  to  the  requirements  of  that 
church,  their  duty  is  to  leave  it ;  but  that  in  no  case  have  they  a 
right  to  violate  the  ordinances,  the  rules,  the  customs,  or  the 
canons,  of  any  sect  or  church  which  they  have  promised  to  keep. 
Logically  considered,  this  is  correct.  "Certainly,"  it  is  said,  "  if  a 
man  has  agreed  in  joining  a  body  to  maintain  the  rules  of  that 
body,  and  he  violates  them,  he  must  go  out ;  either  willingly  or 
by  expulsion."  And  that  is  supposed  to  end  the  question.  But 
no,  it  just  begins  it.  Under  such  circumstances  the  question 
arises,  or  ought  to  arise  in  any  enlightened  community.  What 
is  the  nature  of  that  church  or  that  sect  in  which  a  good,  a  just, 
a  holy,  a  true  man  cannot  stay  ?  What  is  the  nature  of  an  organ- 
ization in  which  a  man  that  is  honest  and  fearless,  a  man  that  is 
enterprising  and  zealous,  a  man  that  is  useful,  and  proves  him- 
self such  before  God  and  before  men,  cannot  stay?  And  the 
question  then  becomes  this  :  Has  any  body  of  men  a  right  so  to 
organize  religion  ?  I  hold  that  all  men  have  an  interest  in  the 
common  religion  that  is  revealed,  and  that  is  emphasized,  and 
ratified,  and  applied  through  the  life  and  death  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  And  in  the  name  of  our  connnon  Christianity, 
you  and  I  have  a  right  to  protest  against  any  organization  which 
makes  it  impossible  for  a  clean,  pure,  true,  right  man  to  sit  in  it, 
and  that  casts  a  man  out  of  it  under  any  pretence  of  violating 
canons,  rules  or  regulations  in  any  way  which  does  not  invali- 
date nor  implicate  his  true,  manly,  Christain  character. 

"  Have  we  not  a  right  to  organize  as  we  please  ?"  you  say. 
As  between  yourselves  and  human  law,  you  have.  So  far  as 
human  law  is  concerned,  men  have  a  right  to  organize  in  such 
a  manner  as  that  nobody  could  belong  to  the  church  who  did 
not  measure  exactly  five  feet  eight  inches.  There  is  no  reason 
in  human  law  why  the  church  might  not  ordain  in  its  rules  and 
regulations  that  no  man  should  belong  to  its  organization  who 
did  not  weigh  a  given  number  of  pounds.  There  is  no  human 
law  against  men's  decreeing  that  none  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
ehurch  except  by  the  carpenter's  rule,  or  by  the  scales,- -without 


6 

being  weighed  or  measured.  But  has  the  church,  in  the  Court 
of  Conscience,  under  the  inspiration  of  enlightened  judgment, 
or  according  to  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  a  riglit  to  take  our 
coninion  religion  and  enclose  it  in  an  organization  that  is  man- 
jnade,  and  that  is  prescribed  by  human  wisdom  in  such  away 
that  religion  inself  is  ]»ut  to  shame  by  the  mode  in  which  it  is 
admistered  {  It  has  no  such  moral  right.  It  is  right  for  any 
church,  in  things  indifferent,  to  ordain  things  for  which  there  is 
no  pattern  in  Scripture.  There  is  no  pattern  in  Scripture  for 
common  schools,  and  yet  we  have  a  right  to  common  schools. 
There  is  no  ]>attern  in  Scripture  for  Sunday  schools,  and  yet  we 
have  a  rii^ht  to  Sunday  schools.  There  is  no  law  in  the  New 
Testament  for  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  if  we 
believe  tliat  that  is  the  true  Sabbath.  There  is  no  special  com- 
mandment in  the  Xew  Testament  to  observe  tlie  Lord's  Day 
instead  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  yet  it  is  not  only  expedent,  but 
right  and  jirojier  so  to  do.  But  while  we  have  a  right  to  organ- 
ize churches  in  such  a  manner  as  conduces  to  education  and  devo- 
tion, we  have  not  a  right  to  insist  upon  human  ordinTinces  when 
they  are  brought  into  collision  with  true  manly  character,  when 
they  sacrifice  just  and  noble  qualities  for  the  sake  of  an  ordi- 
nance. 

The  Pharisees  would  not  believe  in  Christ  because  he  healed 
this  man  on  the  Sabliath — thereby,  as  they  alleged,  violating  a 
churcli  can. .11.  All  tlu-  moral  splendor  (jf  the  miracle;  all  the 
noble  humanity  that  was  manifested  l)y  it;  all  that  the  city,  and 
the  state,  and  the  world,  had  gained  by  reforming  a  man  and 
elevating  him  to  activity  and  usefulness;  the  wonder  of  the 
miracle  which  consisted  in  giving  man]ioo<l  and  plenary  power 
to  a  degraded  and  helpless  man — this  was  nothing.  But  because 
he  had  d<me  it  on  that  conventional  day  he  was  not  godly,  he  was 
not  a  jToplict.  he  was  not  a  good  man — and  he  and  the  bene- 
ticiary  were  both  thrust  out,  with  contempt,  from  the  synagogue. 
Vou  know  very  well,  that  there  was  no  right  in  the  synagogue 
to  thrust  out  a  man  for  sijoli  a  cause,  even  two  thousand  years 
ago,  and  in  another  nation,  and  if  you  bring  to  mind  the  facts, 
you  will  all  say,  "It  was  a  mean  thing ;  it  was  a  narrow  thing; 


it  was  an  unmanly  thing."  They  ought  to  have  been  so  glad  of 
the  moral  revolution  in  this  man,  and  of  the  display  of  Divine 
power  and  humanity  in  his  amelioration,  that  the  wonder  of  the 
moral  element  should  transcend  all  thought  of  the  violation  of  a 
mere  agreement  or  compact.  You  think  so  in  respect  of  Judea, 
hut  how  is  it  in  regard  to  New  York  ?  How  is  it  in  regard  to  a 
sect  in  our  own  time,  in  which  perhaps  some  of  you  have  been 
bred,  in  which  you  have  dear  friends,  and  which  is  a  useful,  and, 
God  be  thanked,  widely  extended  sect.  When  you  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  same  state  of  facts,  how  do 
you  feel  ?  If  this  case  was  wrong  ages  ago,  then  identical  or  par- 
allel cases  are  wrong  to-day. 

Elaborate  organizations  of  Christianity  are  liable  to  the  per- 
version of  the  powers  of  religion,  and  to  gross  persecutions  and 
oppressions.  So  far  as  it  is  abstractly  considered,  there  is  no 
reason  w^hy  men  should  not  organize  themselves  as  artificially 
and  complicatedly  as  they  please ;  but  artificial  and  complicated 
ecclesiastical  organizations  are  peculiarly  liable  to  preversion.  I 
think  them  1f>  be  unwise,  because  they  are  laborious,  they  are  ex- 
pensive to  maintain,  they  draw  men's  attention  from  weightier 
matters  of  spiritual  lite,  and  they  become  mere  engineers — servers 
of  machinery.  As  much  effort  is  required  tc  keep  up  elaborate 
organizations  as  is  necessary  to  preach  the  Gospel  itself.  And 
at  last  the  body  not  only  does  not  serve  the  spirit,  but  oppresses 
it.  Churches  oftentimes  are  like  old  men  who  are  full  of  rheu- 
matisms, full  of  gouts,  full  of  all  manner  of  infirmities,  and  are 
oppressed  by  obstacles  rather  than  served  by  helps.  Yet  if  men 
prefer  elaborate  organizations,  they  have  a  civil  right  to  them ; 
but  they  have  no  right  by  them  to  oppress  any  man.  It  is  said, 
"  When  a  church  asserts  its  own  authority  according  to  its  pre- 
scribed rules  does  it  persecute  i!"  It  does  persecute.  It  is  said, 
"  It  does  not  subject  a  man  to  any  odium  or  any  penalty  :  it  says 
— not,  You  shall  not  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  by  any  other 
church,  biit — You  shall  not  remain  in  this  church."  Well,  is  not 
that  persecution?  Consider  how  men  go  into  churches.  Consider 
what  the  process  of  transplanting  is.  Consider  the  temptations 
and  inconveniences  and  interferences  that  it  involves.     Consider 


8 

what  suftering  and  odium  take  place  when  men,  for  no  moral 
wrong,  are  told  to  walk  out  of  a  eliureli.  If  a  church  was  like 
a  hotel  where  the  lanlord  goes  to  a  uian  and  says,  "  You  are  in 
the  wrong  room,  and  we  have  no  other  room  for  you,  and  you 
must  go  somewhere  else ;"  he  would  have  nothing  else  to  do  but 
to  pack  his  trunk,  and  go  somewhere  else,  and  it  M'ould  be  all 
ritjht.  But  a  church  is  not  like  a  hotel.  It  is  more  like  farming 
o-round.  Here  is  a  large  oak  tree  that  was  planted  as  a  small 
tree  in  a  rich  soil,  and  has  been  growing  for  twenty  or  thirty 
vears,  and  now  its  roots  spread  far  and  wide.  Contiguous  to  it 
are  other  trees,  that  hold  a  council,  and  say  to  this  tree,  "Look 
here,  vou  are  beginning  to  overshadow  us,  and  you  must  clear  out. 
You  have  a  right  to  be  an  oak  tree,  and  to  throw  out  your  roots; 
but  you  shall  not  have  them  here  any  longer.  Get  you  up  and 
begone!"  No  persecution!  Oh  no!  Is  it  so  easy,  then,  for  an 
oak  to  I'ull  up  its  roots  and  walk  off  and  live  somewhere  else? 
Can  vou  take  all  the  ramifications  of  a  great  tree  and  transfer 
them,  and  do  the  tree  no  harm  ? 

Now  men  root  a  thousand  times  broader  than  a  Iree,  by  sym- 
pathy, by  love,  by  custom,  by  habit,  in  a  church  iu  which  they 
are  brought  up.  And  when  you  take  a  man  and  pull  uj)  his 
roots,  and  ca>t  him  out  from  a  cliurch  where  he  has  formed  asso- 
ciations and  attachments,  do  you  say  that  you  do  him  no  harm, 
because  lic<-an  goto  the  Methodist  Church  or  the  Baptist  Church, 
or  wherever  he  pleases  ?  Is  it  not  an  opjjression  ?  Is  it  not  an 
outrage  i  Churches  that  excommunicate  their  members,  merely 
l)ecause  they  do  not  o1)ey  canons  and  rules,  put  canons  and  rules 
liiglier  than  they  do  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  admit 
that  a  man  is  a  ]>raying  man,  a  holy  man,  and  a  useful  man  ; 
but  his  roiiscienco  is  set  against  a  certain  thing,  and  they  say 
to  him,  "  ^  oil  must  go  out."  And  I  liear  some  persons  under 
buch  circmiistances  say,  "  lie  ought  to  go  out  ami  not  stay  in 
the  churcli,  if  he  cannot  oljey  its  canons. 

But  1  i)ray  you  to  consider  Avhat  it  is  to  be  i»ut  out  of  a  church 
forno  breach  of  morality.  Is  it  not  persecution?  There  are 
two  Borts  of  ])err.ccutioii — the  major  and  the  minor.  The  minor 
is  where  a  man  is  lined  ;  where  he  is  imprisoned  ;  where  he  is 


put  in  jail ;  where  his  goods  are  sequestered.  And  sometimes 
an  inflammatory  course  is  taken  with  men,  and,  for  the  benefit 
of  their  souls,  their  bodies  are  purged  with  fire  ;  but  this  is  called 
by  all  persecution,  I  call  it  persecution,  too  ;  but  it  is  the  minor 
persecution,  because  they  have  power  to  slay  the  body,  and  that 
is  the  end  of  it.  The  major  persecution  is  where  a  man  lives 
and  the  magistrate  does  not  meddle  with  him,  and  the  church 
does  not  harm  him  outwardly,  hut  only  hlasts  him  !  It  shuts  the 
door  against  him.  It  takes  the  table  of  communion  from  him. 
It  refuses  him  all  fellowship  and  love  and  confidence.  It  denies 
him  those  very  things  on  which  the  soul  subsists.  It  takes  away 
from  him  that  which  makes  life  M'orth  having.  It  makes  him  a 
marked  man  ;  so  that  the  children,  hearing  their  parents  talking 
of  his  being  cast  out  of  the  church,  shrink  from  him,  and  sup- 
posing him  to  be  some  monster,  look  for  his  horns  and  hoofs. 
They  tormeut  his  soul.  Is  there  no  persecution  in  that  ?  I  tell 
you  that  moral  intolerance  is  a  great  deal  more  hideous  than 
civil  intolerance  ;  and  I  think  there  is  no  punishment  so  wicked 
and  so  unauthorized  l)y  reason  and  conscience  as  that  which  you 
inflict  upon  a  good,  right-living,  true-hearted  man,  merely  be- 
cause he  differs  from  you  on  a  doctrine  or  on  a  ritual.  I  affirm 
the  individual  right  of  Christian  men .  I  stand  upon  that  broad 
ground,  which  was  first  taught  by  Christ,  that  God  receives  all 
men  that  worship  him  as  a  Spirit  in  sincerity  and  in  truth. 
Speaking  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  Jesus  said,  "  Whosoever 
worships  God  anywhere,  after  any  form,  in  sincerity  and  in  truth? 
him  God  accepts."  And,  following  the  example  of  the  Master, 
I  stand  on  the  same  ground,  declaring,  in  the  words  which  I  read 
in  your  hearing  at  the  opening  service,  '•  Who  art  thou  that 
judgest  another  man's  servant  V^ — saying  it  on  the  supposition 
that  every  one  of  us  belongs  to  and  is  the  servant  of  God.  We 
are  tlie  Lord's  Avhile  living,  and  we  are  his  while  dying.  I'  am 
the  Lord's  more  than  I  am  yours.  The  humblest  and  poorest 
here  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  more  than  he  is  mine,  though  I 
am  his  pastor.  He  is  Christ's  more  than  he  is  his  brethren's, 
though  he  is  a  member  of  this  church.  And  the  Apostle  says, 
"  Every  Christian  man — God  has  received  him." 


10 

yc.w,  wli«>  are  yuu  that  dare  sit  in  judgment  on  a  man  wlieo 
he  is  received  of  God  i'     When  a  man  gives  evidence  that  God 
lias  received  him,  lie  has  a  right  to  church  fellowship.     Are  we 
holier  than  God,  that  we  should  refuse  to  hold  fellowship  with 
a  man    whom  (iod  accepts,  though  he  may  differ  from  us  in 
helief  ^     1  have  a  right  to  say  to  him,  "  Let  me  exhort  you,  my 
own  beloved  brother,  to  your  safety,  and  to  the  peace  and  har- 
mony of  the  church,  to  be  a  temperance  man,  a  total  abstinence 
man:"  nevertheless,  if  for  reasons  that  seem  to  him  wise  and 
good,  he  says.  '*  I  cannot  take  that  ground,"  and  if  he  gives  evi- 
dence that  he  is  in  the  sj)irit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  1  have  no 
authority  to  exclu(k'  him,  and   you   have  no   authority  to  expel 
him.     In  other  words,  the  ground  of  acceptance  in  churches  is 
this  :    That  a  man  shall  be  Christian  in  spirit;   that  he  shall  be 
a  true  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     And  the  moment  you 
have  evidence  that  he  is  such,  that  settles  the  question.     lie  has 
a  right  to  fellowship  in  the  church,  and  you  have  no  right  to 
deprive  him  of  it.     Once  in  the  church,  he  has  a  right  to  remain 
there  so  long  as  he  lives  a  godly  life  and  continues  to  give  evi- 
dence in  his  spirit  and  in  his  conduct  that  God  accepts  him.     I 
(itand  on  the  ground  of  the  lil)erty  of  the  individual  Christian ; 
and  I  say  that  it  is  to  buft'et  Christ,  it  is  to  insult  and  assail  Jehovah, 
when,  for  any  reason  less  than  the  violation  of  Christian  charac- 
ter or  iiinral  oMigatioii,  you  excommunicate  from  the  church  any 
man    in   whom  Christ  lives,  in  whom  God  dwells.     To  use  the 
authority  of  an  ecclesiastical  organization  for  this  purpose  is  to 
]>ervert  it — is  to  destroy  the  individual  liberties  of  a  Christian 
for  the  sake  of  iiiaiiitaiiiing  a  religious  establishment,  and  I  will 
tell  you  just  where  this  spirit  came  from.     It  is  the  old  Roman 
rpirit.     What  was  the  idea  of  Rome  in  this  matter 'i     It  was  that 
the  uuit   was  society.     ln<li\i(huil  rights  were  scarcely  known. 
AVhftt  were  men  gond  \\,y(  They  were  good  to  build  uj)  the  nation 
uimI  the  empire.     'I'la-  idea  had  not  been  disclosed  and  developed 
as  Christianity  has  disclosed  and  developed  it,  and  the  individual 
is  an  empire :  that  each  man  is,  himself  a  kingdom  of  wealth ; 
and  that  the  jiower  of  any  nation,  rightly  organized,  resides  in 
tlic  iidierent  strength  of  each  oiic  of  its  units.     Modern  civiliza- 


11 

tion  undertakes  to  make  the  state  stronger  Ijy  developing  the 
individnal  man,  on  every  side,  and  so  making  as  much  of  him  as 
possible.  The  Roman  doctrine  was  that  the  state,  that  the  gov- 
ernment was  more  important  than  the  individual.  Therefore 
men  were  built  up  like  bricks.  What  is  a  brick  good  for? 
Kothing  except  so  far  as  it  lielps  to  make  the  wall  of  a  temple,  a 
pyramid,  or  other  building.  And  when  the  wall  is  built,  that  is 
all  we  look  upon.  The  bricks  are  lost  sight  of.  But  not  so  with 
the  individual  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  is 
a  tree,  and  not  a  wall  composed  of  dead  brick.  Every  single 
brancli  has  a  separate  identity  ;  every  branch  is  rooted  into 
every  other ;  but  each  has  its  own  individual  vitality  and  power 
to  germinate  and  bring  forth  first,  flowers,  and  then  fruit. 

The  peculiarity  of  Christianity  is  this — that  it  proclaims  and 
guards  the  liberty  of  the  individual,  the  liberty  of  his  conscience 
and  judgment,  and  the  liberty  of  his  actions,  and  makes  life  in 
the  individual  supremely  sacred.  Churches  that  think  that 
governments  are  more  important  than  the  rights  of  individual 
men  are  Roman  churches,  of  whatever  sect  they  may  be .  The 
man  that  uses  a  church  organization  to  sacrifice  individual  lib- 
erty is  Roman,  heathen,  despotic. 

There  are  signs  that  this  subject  lias  got  to  be  more  largely 
considered  and  more  largely  discussed.  They  are  not  signs  that 
alarm  me  ;  but  they  are  signs  that  show  that  there  Avould  be 
danger  if  we  did  not  comprehend  and  forestall  and  resist  them, 
I  am  heartily  glad  to  see  growing  unity .  I  do  not  believe  in 
ecclesiastical  unity.  The  age  has  gone  by  in  which  you  are  to 
do  much  in  that  way.  It  would  make  no  difference  to  me  if 
every  single  town  had  a  church  with  a  new  name.  The  only 
things  that  are  going  to  be  fruitful — the  only  things  that  are 
going  to  be  permanent,  in  this  world,  are  the  things  in  which 
men  have  unity — unity  of  feeling ;  but  not  unity  in  ecclesiastical 
governments — not  unity  in  worship.  This  is  of  no  importance 
whatsoever.  But  there  are  a  great  many  good  men  who  differ 
in  this  matter.  There  are  some  who  think  that  the  power  of  a 
church  is  in  its  compact  physical  organization.  And,  therefore, 
it  is  now  sought  to  organize  all  Presbyterian  churches  into  one. 


12 

Let  thein  do  it.     God  speed  tlieni,  if  there  is  any  good  in  it.    But 

I  do  not  consider  that  they  are  thereby  going  to  augment  their 

moral  influence.     The  evil  consists  in  the  bad  manners  exhibited 

by  churches  towards  each  other.     The  mischief  consists  in  the 

quarrelsomeness  of  sects.     There   might  l)e  as  many  different 

sects  as  there  are  families  in  a  neighborhood,  and  no  harm  would 

come  of  it  if  there  was  spiritual  unity.     That  is  my  confidence. 

If  men  have  a  feeling  of  Christian  brotherhood,  it  men  have  a 

(Jommon  love  to  God  and  a  common  reverence  for  humanity,  if 

men  are  ]-eally  one  in  mind  and  spirit,  if  men  are   truly  united. 

spiritually,  then  the  more  variety  you  have  the  richer  you  are. 

The  world  is  not  rich  by  reason  of  identities,  but  by  reason  of 

variations.     "Who  would  send  out  a  mission  to  turn  all  the  trees 

of  the  forest   into   one  tree?     Which  tree  would  you  select? 

"Why,  when  we  plant  trees,  we  put  in  twenty  or  thirty  or  forty 

different  species,  and  the  arboretum  is  the  richer  for  it.     Who 

Would,  if  he  could  do  so,  change  all  flowers  into  one  immense 

unity  flower  (     What  flower  should  it  be  ?     Is  not  the  prairie 

purfled  every  spring  and  summer  with  varieties  of  plants  and 

flowers,  and  is  it  not  gorgeous  from  their  diversity  ?     Is  it  not 

their  difterence  that  makes  flowers  so  beautiful  and  attractive  ? 

One   new   flower  is  enough  to  drive  a  true  botanist  mad  for 

awhile.     AVhy  i     Simply  because  it  is  dift'erent  from  everything 

else  i     And  yet,  how  do  we  see  men  attempting  to  hew  down 

.  churches.     There  are  men  now  who  are  striving  w^ith  all  their 

might  to  unite  all  Cliristian  churches  in  one,  and  make  one  great 

church,  as  if  the  world  would  be  the  l)cttcr  for  it.     One  immense 

iinhy — no  variety  I     That  is  to  say,  all  sing  just  alike — I  would 

not  go  near  them  I     All  preach  just  alike— I  would  get  tired  to 

death  of  them  I     All  think  just  alike — I   would  not  believe  a 

word  of  any  of  them!     It  is  not  possible  for  men  to  think  just 

alike.     It  is  contrary  to  human  nature.     And  yet   men  are  at- 

temi>ting  to  make  churches  like  so  many  machines,  into  which 

clay  is  tlirown  and  which  turns  out  brick  just  eight  inches  long, 

four  inches  broad,  and  two  inches  thick.     There  are  men  who 

would  make  the  church  a  machine  that  should  turnout  Christians 

of  just  such  a  size  and  shape.     That  does  for  bricks,  but  doeg  not 


13 

answer  for  men.  When  God  makes  men,  he  makes  them  like 
trees  with  branches,  and  some  brandies  are  parallel,  some  point 
heavenward,  and  some  droop  to  the  gromid.  And  He  that  makes 
the  clouds  with  iniinite  draperies,  and  in  gorgeous  colors ;  He 
that  never  makes  the  snn  to  rise  twice  alike,  and  that  never 
makes  the  snn  go  down  twice  alike ;  He  that  sends  the  same 
seasons  diiferently  ;  He  that  makes  the  fields  rich  with  diversi- 
ties— He  seems  to  stndy  variety,  as  if  his  populous  thoughts 
sought  new^  modes  of  disclosing  themselves.  He  writes  his 
name  differently  in  every  spot.  And  is  it  to  be  supposed  that 
He  made  an  exception  where  men  are  organized  to  be  the  body 
of  the  Lord  Jesus — as  if  that  kind  of  stale,  useless,  homely,  lap- 
sided  unity  was  the  thing  to  be  sought  ?  I  abhor  it.  It  is  a 
phantasm.  It  is  a  superstition  received  from  Heme.  Kick  it 
out !     Let  that  be  excommunicated  !     Let  the  members  stay  in. 

The  tendencies  are  to  organize  greater  and  greater  power  in 
churches  ;  to  employ  that  power  more  and  more  to  control  men's 
feeling,  their  morals  and  their  course  of  life ;  to  augment  penalties 
if  members  do  not  conform  to  man-made  standards.  These  ten- 
dencies I  do  not  much  fear ;  but  there  is  a  time  of  revival  in 
them,  and  we  feel  their  power  in  the  community.  Let  true  men, 
therefore,  find  what  the  true  ground  U — the  God-made  liberty  of 
the  individual  man  in  believing ;  the  responsibility  of  a  man  in 
in  his  belief  to  his  Maker  and  not  to  his  fellow  men  ;  the  liberty 
of  the  organization  ;  the  right  of  a  man  to  cohere  with  his  fellow 
men — with  his  brethren  and  sisters  of  every  name — though  he 
may  not  be  in  the  same  company,  nor  in  the  same  battalion,  nor 
in  the  same  regiment.  The  doctrine  of  the  right  of  an  indivi- 
dual carries  in  it  the  power  to  repress  and  restrain  whatever  there 
is  of  mischief,  and  to  bring  into  use  whatever  there  is  good  with- 
out carrying  with  it  the  corresponding  abuse. 

There  is  but  one  other  point  that  I  will  make  to-night,  and 
I  do  it  to  guard  you  from  the  impression  that  the  tenor  or  spirit 
of  this  discourse  is  one  that  assaults  particular  churches  or  indi- 
vidual churches.  Far  from  it.  I  have  the  advantage  of  most 
churches.  I  own  them,  though  they  will  not  own  me.  I  own 
the  Methodists,  and  the  Baptists,  and  the  various  other  Christian 


14 

deiiominations.  He  that  takes  in  others  owns  them.  Now  my 
heart  is  big  enough  to  take  tliem  all  in.  1  do  take  them  in,  and 
they  are  mine — fathers  and  mothers,  and  brethren  and  sisters- 
And  I  rejoice  in  it.  Let  me  see  a  Methodist  church  that  is  labor, 
ing  to  spread  the  Gospel  that  I  will  refuse  to  fellowship  with. 
Let  me  see  a  Presbytetian  cliurch  that  is  building  up  the  king- 
dom of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  I  will  not,  with  all  my  heart, 
bid  God  speed.  Let  me  see  a  Baptist  church  that  can  put  through 
the  Jordan  more  discii)les  ihan  we  can,  in  whose  success  I  will 
not  rejoice  and  bless  God.  Let  me  see  an  Episcocal  church,  that 
is  doing  God's  work,  that  I  will  not  give  thanks  for  as  much  as 
the  best  priest  of  them  all. 

According  to  the  very  tenor  of  this  discourse,  I  believe  in  sects, 
not  only  in  what  you  have  already,  but  in  many  more.  Multiply 
their  number.  I  think  that  uo  harm  but  that  much  good  would 
come  of  it,  if  the  churches  that  now  exist  were  divided  and  sub- 
divided. Fine  flour  makes  better  bread  than  coarse  ;  and  I  think 
if  our  churches  were  ground  a  little  more,  it  would  make  better 
churches  of  them.  So  long  as  they  maintain  the  right  spirit, 
their  richness  and  efliciency  will  be  increased  by  external  di- 
versity. 

My  heart  is  cordial.  1  am  too  liberal,  ])erhaps  you  think.  That 
is  the  difference  of  opinion  between  us. 

"What  then,  is  our  duty  as  Chtistian  lue'ii  in  this  emergency, 
and  in  these  times  ? 

First,  where  external  churches  arc  in  trouble  it  is  not  right  for 
us  to  stand  derisively  by  and  rejoice  at  their  misfortunes.  What 
if  a  chuix-h  lu.-os  a  bi.-]ioi)  froiuiiniiiortality  !  Have  you  a  right 
from  that  circuinstance  to  draw  an  argument  against  bishops? 
AVHiat  if  a  christian  church  that  has  arrogated  to  itself  all  the 
peace  which  comes  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  falls  into  temptations 
and  quarrels  !  Have  you  a  i-ight  to  say,  "  Ah  !  where  is  your 
peace?  where  is  your  harmony?"  Would  that  be  gentlemanly  ? 
Would  it  l>e  decent,  even  in  a  neighborhood  of  gentlemen? 
AVouid  it  be  christian  :;  Why,  my  brother,  my  sister,  every  church 
in  the  land  has  something  of  CHirist  in  it;  something  of  His 
truth;    something  of  His  heart;    sojnething  (;f  His  cleansing 


15 

blood ;  and  some  who  are  the  disciples  and  children  of  the  Lord 
^Jesus  Christ.  And  there  is  not  a  chnrch  that  falls  into  trouble 
that  the  woe  is  not  in  part  mine.  It  belongs  to  Christendom. 
The  obstructions,  the  hindrances,  the  divisions — thej  are  mine. 
Thej  do  not  argue  one  way  or  the  other  in  respect  to  the  ques- 
tions that  divide  men — questions  that  do  not  need  to  be  argued, 
and  would  not  be,  if  there  was  a  larger  spirit  allowed. 

]^ow,  you  are  Congregationalists  in  this  church,  and  if  a  divis- 
ion should  come  up  among  our  Methodist  brethren  on  the  sub- 
ject of  lay  representation,  you  should  pra}",  and  I  should  pray, 
that  God  would  use  this  question  for  his  own  honor  in  that 
denomination.  Let  them  not  be  damaged  by  anything  that  you 
say  or  do.  Men  stand  and  see  tlie  troubles  arising,  or  perhaps 
existing,  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  say,  "  Now,  then,  that 
church  will  be  got  out  of  the  way,  and"  we  shall  have  the  spoils." 
"We  do  not  want  the  spoils.  Christians,  is  not  the  Episcopal 
chnrch  your  church  ?  Is  it  not  my  church  ?  Where  have  I  drawn 
the  weapons  with  which  I  have  contested  with  evils  but  from 
some  of  their  most  illustrious  sons  ?  Whence  have  come  many 
of  the  most  powerful  aids  by  which'I  have  been  enabled  to  heal 
men's  souls,  and  teach  them  the  way  to  salvation,  but  from  that 
Church  ?  I  am  proud  of  their  trophies,  and  wlien  they  put  them 
upon  their  battlements,  there  is  no  envy  in  my  heart.  I  own 
that  church,  and  every  church.  I  believe  that  Christ  liimself 
looks  down  from  above  upon  every  church  that  looks  up  and 
calls  him  Lord  and  master,  and  owns  it  as  his.  A  true  Christian 
spirit  must  do  the  same  toward  the  Lord's  children.  And,  my 
brethren,  if  a  sect  is  brought  into  trouble,  I  pray  God  that  they 
may  safely  come  out  of  that  trouble.  Take  care  that  you  do  not 
indulge  in  any  feeling  of  envy  or  revenge.  There  is  no  Christi- 
anity in  bitter  sectarian  feelings.  Do  not  let  them  exist  in  your 
bosom.  And  if  a  sister  church  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  contain 
corrupt  elements,  pray  to  God  that  he  will  purify  them  and 
make  them  more  worthy  of  his  name,  and  more  M'orthy  of  your 
love.  No  church  could  seek  to  build  itself  up  by  pulling  down 
another. 

We  have  in  regard  to  all  the  troubles  that  are  going  on  in 
other  churches  around  about  us,  aright  to  study  their  rise  and 
progress,  and  the  results  which  will  flow  from  them ;  but  we 

295597 


.16 

have  no  right  to  be  envious  or  revengeful,  or  unkind,  or  discour- 
teous. On  the  other  liand,  instead  of  raihng,  it  is  our  duty  to 
pray  more  for  otlier  denominations.  If  we  would  criticise  less, 
and  pray  more,  I  think  the  peace  of  the  household  would  be  pro- 
moted. I  think  friendship  would  be  richer  and  more  stable.  I 
think  neighborhoods  would  become  more  compact  and  more 
refined.  We  criticise  too  much  ;  we  rail  too  much ;  we  rejoice 
too  much  in  iniquity  and  not  enough  in  truth.  A  true  Christian 
disposition  would  lead  us  to  endeavor,  as  far  as  possible,  to  see 
the  good  and  rejoice  in  it,  and  to  pray  for  the  prosperity  of  Zion. 

"  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem," — and  Jerusalem  is  as  wide 
as  the  out-spreading  arms  of  Him  that  was  crucified  there — "  if 
I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning. 
If  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of 
my  mouth."  ''For  my  brethren's  sake,  I  will  say,"  to  every 
denomination,  ''  Peace  be  within  thy  walls." 

May  God  give  power  to  Christ's  name,  and  grant  to  his  dis- 
ciples a  nobler  manhood,  a  wider  sphere,  ampler  harvests,  and  a 
more  glorious  final  ingatlieri^ig,  until  the  blessed  day  shall  come 
when  the  angels  shall  be  commissioned  to  fly  through  the  heavens 
and  proclaim,  '"  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  for- 
ever  and  forever." 


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